Sierra Construction became ISO 9001 registered in June of 2001. During the process leading to registration we learned the importance and benefits of this formal quality system of management. Sierra Construction is committed to maintaining a high level of quality and reliability in servicing our customers.

ISO 9001 is a family of standards for quality management systems. ISO 9001 is maintained by ISO, the International Organization for Standardization and is administered by accreditation and certification bodies. Some of the requirements in ISO 9001 (which is one of the standards in the ISO 9000 family) include a set of procedures that cover all key processes in the business;

1. Monitoring processes to ensure they are effective

2. Keeping adequate records

3. Checking output for defects, with appropriate and corrective action where necessary

4. Regularly reviewing individual processes and the quality system itself for effectiveness

5. Facilitating continual improvement

Sierra Construction is now ISO 14001 Certified

What is it?

ISO 14001 - is the international specification (standard) for an environment management system (EMS). It specifies requirements or actions to be taken to minimize effects on the environment (cause adverse changes to air, water or land) and to comply with applicable laws and regulations. It is similar to ISO 9001, which is for quality management. Our journey to obtain ISO 14001 began in January 2008 and we became certified in April 2009.

The ISO 14001 Standard is also about maintaining the system and continuous improvement. To ensure this, audits are conducted to check the system. We will have periodic internal audits (completed by our trained employees) as well as external audits (conducted by trained third parties) at least once per year. Nonconformities or flaws in the system must be corrected or our certification could be revoked.

As noted above it is a management system and will help us to become more aware of how are business activities (how we do our work) interact with or impact the environment. These activities / impacts can be positive (such as recycling materials, reducing waste, preventing or minimizing a negative impact) or negative (littering, a fuel spill, contamination of a waterway or water system). We are all are becoming more aware of how important our environment is to us, considering health effects, safety, growth and the future. As noted in our Environmental Policy … “Sierra Construction management believes that we have been given the land and waters in which we live. Therefore, the protection of these gifts is considered to be of paramount importance.”

By working together, identifying, reviewing and monitoring environmental issues before, during and after project completion will aide in preventing them from becoming a negative impact on the environment. By “doing what is right” we can avoid these negative impacts will help the project progress smoother, faster by avoiding delays, possible legal action. The end result, overall customer and public satisfaction!!